I was standing at my usual post in the window
watching the action on the street below, when I noticed a certain theme
for the evening, almost like a strange play that was being performed for
me. Lots of people were picking up stuff from the sidewalk. That's not
really such a weird thing, since people constantly scour the gutters for
a rock or half smoked cigarette that someone may have dropped, but
that's not what these people seemed to be after.
Scene 1:
I watched a very flashy black man, who looked
like he was on his way to cruise Polk St, pause to check his look in
the reflection of a well polished SUV and move on. Suddenly he stopped
and turned back to pick up a half empty water bottle from behind a
light post. He strutted up the street squeezing out the water as
he went.
Scene 2:
Two Arabic men got into a car at the corner and
one of them stooped to pick up what looked like a piece of bread from
the gutter, sniffed it, put it in his pocket and got in the car.
Intermission:
A middle aged frumpy white woman walked up the
street and slunk up close to the shelter of a large van where she
bought a few rocks off of a very nervous middle aged Asian man who
really was only acting as the go between for her and a young Asian kid
who actually had the crack.
It was the most awkward and obvious drug deal I'd
seen in awhile. It's always obvious, but in a casual way. As if
there's nothing wrong with selling crack. And usually it's just a
smooth motion of two people falling into step and passing things off
without looking at one another and then one will drop behind and turn
and walk in another direction. It's like a dance that they do. But
these people were so awkward and nervous and obviously doing something
illegal that it made me think that they were pretty new to it. And
that they probably won't last very long?
Scene 3:
Shortly after that I saw a semi-cracked out black
woman swinging up the street until something caught her eye. She
stopped and picked up a flier from a restaurant off the sidewalk and
examined it with great interest. It was all tattered and dirty from
being stepped on a million times and I can't imagine that what ever
they had to offer could have looked very appetizing through all that
grime.
Curtain:
Most peculiar. Usually people are throwing trash
on the street, not picking it up.
I felt that if I paid close enough attention to
this play, that I would understand something really important. I half
expected to see those people look up at me and nod knowingly. But I
couldn't figure out what it was all supposed to mean and it was so
fleeting. Oh well, the universe will have to be patient, I can be so
obtuse...
